Smile! You’re on Transparent Camera

Samsung Electronics’ camera ambitions are far from over. A patent filing registered earlier this month with Korean authorities shows that the company has been toying with a new tool for its cameras: transparent displays.

“This design is of a digital camera using a transparent display that allows the person taking the photo and the subject of the photo-shoot to look at each other and have direct eye-contact for photo shooting,” according to the filing reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

A diagram of what appears to be a digital camera with a transparent display.

Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service

The device, as seen in the diagram, comes with a body that resembles a compact camera rather than more professionally used digital single-lens reflex cameras that have much bigger image sensors and multiple lens options.

The main body will simply have a “wide” transparent display with lens and flashes and it will have a power button on one side, the filing said. No dimensions were given.

Despite a bleak outlook for digital cameras in general due to the advent of smartphones, Samsung has long been trying to crack this market – one of the few areas where Japanese electronics makers still rule – as the company gropes for a new growth engine in every aspect it can from its vast lineup of electronics products.

Samsung is the world’s No. 1 maker of smartphones, TVs and memory chips, but has seen earnings growth slow significantly in recent quarters with its key mobile unit losing momentum amid a saturating market.

Through its camera unit, the company has been experimenting with various ideas, starting with the integration of Wi-Fi into its cameras and going as far as mashing compact cameras together with smartphones to create a hybrid model, currently dubbed the Galaxy Zoom phone. Samsung recently merged its camera division into the mobile unit and does not break out any earnings results for cameras.

It remains unclear how consumers can benefit from using transparent displays while taking photos. The design may remain a concept or evolve into something totally different by the time the product reaches customers, as is the case with many of these patent filings.

Samsung continues to market its cameras using technologically feasible ones first. The company punched out a “mini” version of its NX mirror-less camera series on Tuesday at a presser in Seoul where the company’s marketing executive for mobile products, Lee Young-hee, was present, surrounded by super models.

As she promoted the company’s new “NX mini” camera to the audience, she asked for volunteers who would like to take a group-selfie with her, emphasizing how taking selfies together is a new trend just like how Ellen DeGeneres did during the Oscar Awards. Taking group-selfies, or “wefies” as she puts it, will be a new cultural trend.